Australian Surf Champs wrap

THE Surf Coast and Bellarine region has three new Australian surfing champions, with Ben Considine, Gayle Main and Greg Brown tasting success at the Australian Surf Championships on the New South Wales Mid Coast.

In tricky conditions at Northhaven Beach, Considine was able to take out his third Australian title in the Open Men’s Logger division, Main was victorious in the O60 Women’s Shortboard discipline, while Greg Brown added another trophy to his illustrious cabinet, winning the O55 Men’s Longboard gong.

The prestigious Australian Surf Championships, which have not been run since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, brought more than 500 surfers to the NSW Mid North Coast for the 17-day event period.

Our coastal area was represented by 15 athletes at the national contest, with athletes putting their best surfing on show across three different disciplines, including Shortboard, Longboard and the traditional Logger division.

Barwon Heads surfer and now three-time Australian champion Ben Considine was able to show off his amazing nose-riding capabilities in the solid conditions at Port Macquarie, ousting 19 other athletes to take out the Open Men’s Logger gong, his first title since 2017.

Considine said he was thrilled to take out the title, noting while he went into the event wanting to win, he didn’t have any great expectations and just endeavoured to enjoy the event in its return after the pandemic.

“The event was really great to be apart of once again and it felt awesome to get the win against some really good surfers from around the country,” Considine said.

“The conditions were tricky throughout the whole event which made me switch around my equipment a bit to try and suit the strong swell and conditions.

“It definitely came as a bit of a surprise to take it out, I felt my surfing started to really kick off from the semi finals onwards and luckily I linked some good waves together in the final to take it out.”

Newly crowned O60 Women’s Shortboard champion Gayle Main (Queenscliff) thrived in the challenging conditions, bringing home her second Australian title a few months out from her 70th birthday.

The Over 60 Women’s title was decided on through a round robin format, with all four women surfing against each other twice to crown an overall point scoring leader.

Main was absolutely thrilled to come out on top and secure her second Australian title, noting she had no idea she had won the title until she was crowded by members of the Surfing Australia media team and her fellow competitors at the final buzzer.

“It was such a special moment to share the waves with the other ladies across our division and very humbling to win the division,” Main said.

“In our round robin format, it ended up coming down to a countback of scores as myself and another competitor were tied on points!

“Luckily, I had the highest wave score during our heats which ended up delivering me a surprising win, one that I didn’t know about till I hit the beach and had people flocking to congratulate me.

“I hope that our O60’s division can inspire other women to continue their surfing as they get older; I’m certainly very grateful to still be doing what I love and to receive this amazing accolade.”

Jan Juc surfer and multiple time Australian Champion Greg Brown also continued his stellar form at the titles taking out the O55 Men’s Longboard title while also finishing up second in the 050 Longboard Men’s division.

Other finalists included Bea Conroy who finished second in both the Open Women’s Logger and Longboard divisions, while John Lane finished second in the O60 Men’s Longboard discipline.

For full event results visit australiansurfchampionships.com.